On the night of August 24, 2012 in Yekaterinburg, unknown vandals desecrated the monument to the first president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin. A ten-meter stele with a bas-relief embossed on it was almost completely doused with blue liquid. The letters at the base of the monument, making up the surname, were knocked down and stained. It has not yet been possible to find the hooligans.
A marble stele in memory of the first president of Russia was established in Yekaterinburg on February 1, 2011, on the day of his 80th birthday. The author of the monument was the architect Georgy Frangulyan, and the initiator of its installation was the Boris N. Yeltsin Foundation and his family. Caring for the condition of the monument and its protection was the responsibility of this fund, but the city authorities immediately offered their help in cleaning the monument, since this matter has a great public resonance.
It should be noted that vandals brought a lot of difficulties to cleaning services. The blue substance turned out to be mascara, which was deeply ingrained on the surface of porous white marble. Only the upper part of the monument remained intact, the rest of it is covered with blue spots of varying degrees of intensity. Currently, Moscow restorers are working on the restoration of the monument, who have already sent dye samples to the capital. Based on his analysis, special reagents will be selected that can completely remove its traces on the marble surface. The cost of restoration work, according to experts, will amount to several million rubles.
Hooligans were operating early in the morning, from 3 a.m. to 8 a.m., when a passing patrol noticed destruction. Investigators of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have already opened a case under the article on vandalism, but those who defiled the monument have not yet been found. No political group took responsibility for this offense, so it can be assumed that the cause of the act could be banal hooliganism or personal hostility.
If it is possible to bring to justice these irreconcilable fighters against unrequited monuments, under article 214 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, only 3 months of administrative arrest could be threatened. The desecration of buildings and structures, property damage in public places is covered by the article on vandalism.
